Dear Parents and Carers,
We are notifying you with an update following the message on Friday, which informed you that we had been alerted to a number of positive lateral flow result within Year 11, some of which had then also been confirmed by PCR tests.
We have continued to receive a steady trickle of confirmed PCR positive tests in this year group, and we thank parents and carers very much for advising us of these. We have liaised closely with Public Health England and the Department for Education as to our response to this and with respect to our Covid contingency measures and we can confirm we are following current guidance correctly; we would like to reinforce a few other appropriate measures we would like everyone's support with please:
- If your child is presenting with ANY one of the Covid typical symptoms, please do pay close attention to this, particularly if you are aware of their participating in community gatherings where you know - perhaps better than we do - that someone has tested positive for Covid. It may be that you arrange a PCR test for your child in all such circumstances, unless exempt from testing for any reason, just to rule it out. This will help us curb the spread within the year group, which we are already curbing together, but we would like to do our all to enable this to the maximum extent that we can, of course. The flow diagrams are shown further down this page.
- If your child is unwell with these symptoms and you're awaiting a PCR test, we will also authorise absence until that result, even if you wonder if it may be a virus of another kind - better to be sure, and PCR results have been coming through pretty quickly of late. Long may that continue! (The Year Leader team is working hard to ensure remote learning is available to all students well enough at home to complete it.)
- Whilst we cannot and will not be mandating or instructing the wearing of face coverings, we thank any students who feel able to do so, particularly when they are in busier areas of the site, or when they need for any reason to have a closer one:one conversation with someone, especially indoors (Guidance continues to call close contacts anyone who has had a face to face conversation with someone for a minute or so within a metre's distance, or for 15 or so minutes within two metres).
- And finally, can we again reinforce the message of encouraging all Year 11 students to complete daily lateral flow tests for the next week or so. We appreciate this isn't a pleasant thing to have to do, and we thank the students so much for doing so - it's another way that will help to interrupt the cases we have had in this year group over the last few days.
Symptoms
Lateral Flow
PCR
Close Contacts
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:
- a new continuous cough
- a high temperature
- a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)
For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness
If your child does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from the nhs.uk website (click link):
If you are concerned about your child’s symptoms, or they are worsening you can seek advice from NHS 111 at https://111.nhs.uk/ or by phoning 111.
How to stop COVID-19 spreading
There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19:
Do:
- wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
- use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
- wash your hands as soon as you get home
- cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
- put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
Further Information
Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Should you have any further questions, do not hesitate to email us at health@noadswood.hants.sch.uk
Kathryn Marshall and the Noadswood Leadership Team